Iraqiya wins by two-seat margin as Maliki courts Moqtada al-Sadr in Iran

A Reuters article of March 27 as found at Asharq Alawsat Daily reported former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc the winner of the March 7th elections by a two-seat margin in preliminary results released on Friday.

In the meantime, current PM Nouri al-Maliki declared Friday night that he was on his way to forming the biggest bloc in parliment. Allawi countered, "The Iraqi people chose the Iraqiya to be the base to start talks with the other parties according to the constitution."

Representatives of Maliki's State of Law party traveled to Iran on Friday to meet with anti-American Shi'ite Moqtada al-Sadr, a leader in the Iraqi National Alliance, a bloc with close ties to Iran.

Reuters claims that any attempt by the major Shi'ite blocs to sideline Allawi could lead to resentment among Sunnis pushed to the side when the majority Shi'ites rose to power following the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.